'Snapchat Dysmorphia' causing young people to seek plastic surgery

Plastic surgeons are seeing an increase in young people bringing filtered photos in as inspiration for their desired surgeries.
(iStock)

Snapchat and Instagram filters are changing the way young people look at themselves.

A new phenomenon of using filtered selfies as a guide for plastic surgeons is on the rise, and has been coined “Snapchat Dysmorphia” by Dr. Matthew Schulman, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City.

“It’s not enough [to] have to compare yourself to these perfected images of models, but now you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to this intentional or unintentional fake self that you present on social media. It’s just one more way to feel like your falling short every day,” Engeln added.

“They’re not changing the content of our beauty standards,” she said to the Post. “They’re just making images of it more widely available.”

Dr. Michelle Yagoda, a facial plastic surgeon in New York City, told the Post that constantly seeing altered selfies could have serious negative effects on people’s self-esteem, but doesn’t think that many will be affected by the syndrome.

“I think any time you’re able to shade out imperfections and make a better picture of yourself, it affects the way we see each other and the way we see ourselves,” she said. “I think this is a real problem, but I doubt that it’s going to be significantly affecting more people than regular body dysmorphic disorder does.”